Indian ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth will fight it out in the quarter-finals and carry India's hopes in the BWF World Championship 2019 held in Basel on August 23.
After the likes of Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth got ousted from the tournament in the third-round, Sindhu and Praneeth are the only two Indians left in the biggest badminton tournament of this year.
Both the shuttlers were in prolific form in their pre-quarter fixtures as the 27-year-old player stunned sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the men's draw whereas the Olympic silver medallist defeated ninth seed Beiwen Zhang of USA.
Preview, Prediction and Schedule
PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu Ying
Sindhu was in scintillating form against Zhang as she took only 34 minutes to dismantle her opponent. The 24-year-old shuttler was playing aggressively to which her opponent did not have any answers.
It was the Indian shuttler's third straight win over her USA counterpart and the form she is enjoying will be a relief to Indian badminton fans. The final score on the board read 21-14, 21-6 in favour of Sindhu. In the quarter-final fixture, she will face Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan who is seeded second in the tournament. Moreover the Taiwanese badminton player has a superior record against the Indian.
It will be a tough task for Sindhu to beat the Chinese Taipei star but according to recent form she may just conquer the opponent who defeated her in the Asian Games Final. The match will probably go into the third set and have a nail-biting finish.
Sai Praneeth vs Jonatan Christie
Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth caused a major upset by beating sixth seed Indonesian badminton star Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in straight sets. The 27-year-old Indian shuttler was trailing 15-18 in the first game but came back strongly to win it 21-19. He took just 42 minutes to defeat the highly-rated Indonesian.
In the second game also, he was pushed to the back foot by Ginting but he kept himself calm, composed and bounced back to win the match 21-19, 21-13. Praneeth will next face another Indonesian shuttler Jonatan Christie who is the world number four. The Indian badminton player will have his task cut out against the 21-year-old in his attempt to win the coveted tournament.
Praneeth is definitely not the favourite to win this fixture and according to the head-to-head also the Indonesian leads. But if the Indian shuttler can keep himself calm and composed to see through the match then he can actually produce another upset as he did in the pre-quarters.
The PV Sindhu-Tai Tzu Ying and Sai Praneeth-Jonatan Christie quarter-final fixtures can be watched from 11 AM according to local time and 2.30 PM IST.
TV listings, Live Streaming and how to watch in India
For Indian viewers, the live telecast of the tournament would be provided by Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD. For those who can watch the game online, Hotstar will be the official platform.
